Improving Students’ Conceptual Knowledge in General Chemistry Using Desire2Learn

1. Improving Students’ Conceptual Knowledge in General Chemistry Using Desire2Learn Joann Pfeiffer Century College (Twin Cities, MN)

2. Project Goal: Have students take a “quiz” in D2L for each topic covered in General Chemistry. Motivation: • Students need to test themselves on conceptual understanding, not just on problems. • The quiz tool in D2L provides an effective and efficient means for providing students with lots of questions.

3. “Quiz” Set-Up • 10 multiple choice questions randomly selected from a question library • Unlimited number of attempts allowed • Highest attempt automatically recorded in the D2L gradebook • Quiz questions with answers provided immediately after submission • No time limit on the “quiz”; completion required before exam on the material • Focus of questions is on conceptual knowledge

4. Example Questions 1. For the reaction A = B, the rate law is Rate = k[A]. What are the units of the rate constant where time is measured in seconds? a) M-1s-1 b) Ms c) s/M d) M2/s e) s-1 2. What determines the exponents in a rate law? i. experimentation ii. the coefficients in the balanced equation iii. the concentrations of the reactants a) i only b) ii only c) iii only d) i and ii e) ii and iii

5. Examples 3. In general, as the temperature increases, the rate of a chemical reaction a) decreases due to fewer collisions with proper molecular orientation. b) decreases for endothermic reactions. c) decreases for exothermic reactions. d) increases due a greater number of effective collisions. e) increases due to a lowering of activation energy.

6. Time-Saving Tip Respondus .rtf (Rich Text File) [Word] .xml File [D2L] www.respondus.com

7. Topics for Gen Chem II Quiz Topic (points)Number of Questions Kinetics (10) 34 Equilibrium 1 (5) 43 Equilibrium 2 (5) 17 Acid/Base (10) 42 Oxidation/Reduction (10) 41 Thermodynamics (10) 44 Solids (10) 28 Naming (10) 27 VSEPR (10) 36 Electron Configuration (10) 27 Quantum (10) 23

8. Results for Gen Chem II

9. Summary of Results for Gen Chem II • Most students took each quiz until they got the maximum value possible • On average, each student took the quiz 4-5 times • 20% of the students in section 1 and 6% in section 2 took a quiz after earning the maximum value possible • 43% of the students in section 1 and 24% in section 2 took quizzes that weren’t graded as a review for the final

10. Topics for Gen Chem I Quiz Topics (points)Number of Questions Intro/Sig Figs 43 Atoms/mass 51 Naming inorganics 81 Rxns in aq soln 49 Quantum 51 Electron Configuration (5) 40 Periodic Properties (5) 22 Lewis Dot / VSEPR 72 Thermochem 38 Gases 65 Intermolecular Forces 37

11. Results for Gen Chem I

12. Summary of Results for Gen Chem I • Most students took each quiz until they got the maximum value possible • On average, each student took the quiz 4.2 times • 8.6% of the students took a quiz after earning the maximum value possible • 14% of the students took quizzes that weren’t graded as a review for the final

13. Student Opinions – Gen Chem I On a scale from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree The D2L quizzes were useful when studying the material for the course 4.12 I find the study guides for the exams useful 4.12 I liked working in groups on the activities in discussion sections (POGIL) 3.46 I used my textbook often when studying the material for this course 2.79 I used the CD-ROM disks that came with the text often. 1.76

14. Acknowledgements Dr Larry Litecky, President of Century College Center for Teaching and Learning at Century College Thank You